I thought I'd give you a quick run down of the books and websites I found useful when pregnant.
Websites and emails
Baby Centre is by far the best baby website in my opinion. This is the UK site, and there is also an Australian and American version of the site, but I think the UK version is the best. You can sign up for a weekly email, which is fantastic while you are pregnant (has great pictures of the fetus each week) and after you have the baby the emails keep coming, with facts on development of your baby. It goes beyond newborn to toddler and pre-schooler.
Birth is an Australian site, set up by midwives who have also written a book covering the same information. It covers everything from conception, to pregnancy and birth to newborns. You can sign up for a weekly email as well. I think this sight is good as it gives an Australian perspective, but there are a lot of broken links on the site and it's quite slow and cumbersome to navigate.
Essential Baby is interesting if you like tabloid-style articles (it's Fairfax), and the Better Health Channel is the Victorian government health website, if you want the official line on what you can and can't eat while pregnant! Nine Months is another Australian site that I never got into, but you might like!
NameBerry is by far the best baby name website around. If you like a name, it will tell you other names that are similar, or you can just search by category. The Huggies website is also good for names, as it tells you what are the most popular in Australia. Your kid will thank you later if they aren't one of 10 Isabellas in their class!
Books
Up the Duff by Kaz Cooke is a great pregnancy guide. It's funny, informative, Australian and up to date. She may not be a doctor but she has had doctors help her write it. It's really all you need, although I wanted to read a lot so bought several books...
Attack of the 50 Foot Hormones by Emma Tom is another great book. More humorous than medically factual, this book had me and the boyfriend in tears (of laughter) most nights. While her experience of pregnancy may be more extreme than most, it made me feel better to know that other women feel shit and go a bit crazy! And she also tried out almost every method known to try and improve the birth, including hypno-birthing and a weird contraption to strengthen your perineum. Ugh. Highly recommended.
The cover of What to expect when you're expecting is enough to put you off buying it. It looks like a bad 70's book, and the font/design inside the book isn't much better. However, it is probably the most informative and useful pregnancy book I had. It had any weird symptoms covered in great detail, saving lots of trips to the doctor! I was given a copy and now recommend it to my friends.
Conception, pregnancy and birth by Miriam Stoppard is totally cheesy and American. I bought it for the pictures and actually found it to be an enjoyable read, but mostly because it has funny bits on what to wear when pregnant, including make up etc! Hilarious. Browse through it at the library and save yourself some cash.
